The New year does not always mean a new revival to business for a company. There are many chains that are facing financial trouble in 2017. They could not leave the trouble behind them. Applebees and Ruby Tuesday’s are just a few of the chained facing trouble this year. Only time will tell.

Key Takeaways:

• Anyone who pays attention to this space knows that 2016 was not much fun for many restaurant operators. Traffic was bad despite low gas prices, low unemployment and high consumer confidence.
• But some chains had it worse than others. With grocery prices falling, many concepts will find it difficult to generate more traffic in 2017, even though comparisons will supposedly get easier. As such, many chains face major questions heading into 2017. Here are five worth noting.
• Applebee’s turned back to discounts to get that traffic back. But that could have a ripple effect throughout the casual-dining segment, because if Applebee’s starts discounting, others might have to follow suit.

“With grocery prices falling, many concepts will find it difficult to generate more traffic in 2017, even though comparisons will supposedly get easier.”

http://www.nrn.com/sales-trends/5-chains-facing-tough-year-2017

My grandparents started a crab processing plant down in a little, hardly-known area of Maryland in Dorchester County called Crocheron. It was a very small fishing village. They set up a crab factory right around a body of water known as Fishing Bay, which is part of the Chesapeake Bay and larger tributaries. Every day, all day, they would pick crabmeat and whatever fish the guys and gals out on the water brought in that day.

Key Takeaways:

• My grandparents started a crab processing plant down in a little, hardly-known area of Maryland in Dorchester County called Crocheron. It was a very small fishing village. They set up a crab factory right around a body of water known as Fishing Bay, which is part of the Chesapeake Bay.
• Anybody in the restaurant business can tell you it’s a non-stop grind, and you can’t take your eye off the ball, otherwise you’re going to start taking losses, or quality control is going to start slipping.
• The fact is there’s always room for a great product. I don’t think a lot of people necessarily are aware of how much it costs to run a restaurant. Having the parking lot packed on the weekends is a great and necessary thing, but if the clock is ticking there’s an expense happening whether you like it or not.

“First and foremost, the thing that hasn’t changed is just a feeling of belonging, to a certain extent, and family dedication.”

http://www.restaurant-hospitality.com/operations/chef-connects-family-s-seafood-legacy-contemporary-dining